[Edaily Reporter KWON HYE-ME ] “I failed to buy Minumsa bread again today.” “Is it really out of stock even after searching every convenience store?”

These are recent posts on social media.

According to the retail industry on the 27th, the “Minumsa Bread”—a product launched on the 21st by the convenience store chain GS25 in collaboration with the publishing house Minumsa and the character IP brand “Today’s Cuteness”—is enjoying immense popularity among the younger generation.

The product sold 50,000 units within just three days of its launch. With sales totaling approximately 150 million won, it ranked first or second in sales among all GS25 bread products. In particular, it is reported that consumers who were unable to purchase the bread simultaneously accessed GS25’s “Our Neighborhood GS” app to check store-by-store inventory, causing the app to experience temporary glitches. From the 20th to the 24th, the cumulative number of searches related to “Minumsa Bread” on the “Our Neighborhood GS” app reached approximately 200,000.

Each loaf contains a random transparent bookmark featuring characters added to the covers of world literature collections such as *Les Misérables* and *Wuthering Heights*, as well as the “Minumsa Poetry” series. There are 20 different bookmark designs in total, three of which are GS25 limited editions. The bread is priced at around 3,000 won.

On social media, posts poured in, with users sharing photos of their “Minum Publishing bread” or expressing disappointment at failing to purchase one. Netizens took to Instagram and X (formerly Twitter) to comment: “It’s a bookmark hunt, not a sticker hunt,” “It feels like I came here to buy merchandise, not bread,” “I barely managed to buy one—they only get one per day,” “It’s sold out everywhere, even after searching every convenience store,” “No stores in my neighborhood have restocked,” “The supply is just way too low,” and “The customer in front of me bought six at once.”

Just like the “Tibutibu Seal” lottery that was once a craze with Pokémon bread, a phenomenon has emerged where people are paying a premium just to buy the bookmarks from the Minumsa bread. On secondhand marketplaces, a single Minumsa bread bookmark is selling for between 5,000 and 10,000 won.

As the “Text Hip” trend spread among the 20s and 30s generation, GS25 collaborated with the publishing house Minumsa to develop this product. “Text Hip” is a neologism combining “text” (meaning letters) and “hip” (meaning cool and unique), referring to the phenomenon where “the act of reading and writing itself is perceived as a cool and sophisticated culture.”

A GS Retail official stated, “The bread created in collaboration with Minumsa is selling out as soon as it arrives,” adding, “It appears the positive response stems from the convergence of the growing ‘Text Hip’ trend and interest in collectible merchandise.”